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Patricia Lawrence (Death in Paradise)
Patricia Lawrence (Monica Dolan) is the main villainess of "The Secret of the Flame Tree", episode 6.02 of BBC's Death in Paradise (airdate January 12, 2017). She was the assistant and editor to esteemed author Sylvie Baptiste, the author of acclaimed novel The Flame Tree. In actuality, however, Sylvie's sister Lizzie had written the novel, with Sylvie claiming the novel as her own work after Lizzie suffered a mental breakdown and was left with no memory of writing the book. When university student Esther Monroe (who was writing her thesis over The Flame Tree) discovered that Sylvie was not the true author, Patricia aided Sylvie in her attempt to stop Esther from exposing her by stealing Esther's laptop. The episode's beginning had Esther being found dead during a literary festival Sylvie was the guest of honor for, with Sylvie eventually becoming a suspect after her fraud was uncovered. After Sylvie professed her innocence, DI Humphrey Goodman insinuated to Patricia the possibility that she had killed Esther to protect her boss. In response, Patricia claimed that working with Sylvie was difficult, largely because of Sylvie's drinking habit, and that she held no desire to kill on her behalf. The episode's climax revealed Patricia's statement as a half-truth, however, as Humphrey discovered that Patricia had in fact been behind Esther's murder. As revealed in Humphrey's summation to the case's suspects, Patricia had known for some time that Sylvie hadn't written The Flame Tree, but kept quiet due to enjoying the fame and prestige she received as a result of Sylvie's fame. When she learned that Esther was planning to expose Sylvie as a fraud, Patricia plotted to kill Esther to prevent her from putting an end to her privileged lifestyle. Patricia began her plan by acting as Esther's aid, helping her arrange to talk with Lizzie at the cliffside by the literary festival Sylvie and her were invited to. But later on, the evil Patricia told Lizzie that the meeting was cancelled before going in her place, where she shoved Esther off the cliffside to her death, faking a suicide note on a piece of paper with Esther's fingerprints to make it appear that Esther had committed suicide. To establish an alibi, Patricia had went to commit the murder while giving a speech in front of the festival attendees, using a pre-recorded audio file on her laptop to make it appear she were talking from offstage while a slide show played while she went to murder Esther. Patricia attempted to claim innocence during Humphrey's summation of her crimes, even after Humphrey showed that he'd found the laptop containing the audio file of her speech. Ultimately, though, the faked suicide note sealed Patricia's fate, as she signed Esther's name on the note in biro pen rather than the fountain pen Esther was known for using. Patricia eventually confessed to killing Esther, telling Sylvie that she was going to destroy everything they had and tearfully proclaiming that she had no choice as Officer Dwayne Myers placed her under arrest. Category:2010s Category:Callous Category:Conspirator Category:Deceiver Category:Live Action Villainess Category:Murderer Category:Murder: High Fall Category:Murder: Staged Suicide Category:Redhead Category:Thief Category:Villainous Reveal Category:Fate: Arrested